Cooking Venison Right: Avoid These Common Mistakes Minnesota

The firearms opener for Minnesota is this weekend, and for those lucky enough to fill their tag this weekend, you're going to want to savor that moment, as well as the meat you'll get from your deer. If you aren't familiar with cooking venison, you should have these three tips handy, so you can serve up something almost as impressive as the story behind the deer that you took.

Three Easy Cooking Tips For Venison This Fall/Winter

I know alot of people when they process a deer, are all about the jerky or sausage, and while venison does make great jerky and sausage, there are other things that you can do with the processed deer.

One of the most important things that you should remember when cooking your venison is that it's much different than other types of meat, even if it looks similar. Which leads me to my first tip...don't cook it like beef.

It's Not Beef, So Don't Treat It Like Beef

Unlike beef, which often has marbling of fat throughout the protein that helps keep it moist, venison doesn't have the same type of marbling of fat. When you cook beef, the fat runs out and onto the grill or pan; venison doesn't do that. The fat in venison disappears, drying out the cut. So what can you do to keep your venison steak juicy?

Sear it in a pan that has oil in the bottom of it, prior to cooking it further. By searing the cut, you are sealing in the fat juices. Another option for you is to let the cuts of venison soak in a marinade, adding moisture to the cut, so it doesn't all get cooked out on the grill or in the pan.

Avoid Adding Salt

Since we know venison is leaner than beef, adding salt to the cut before cooking it further dries it out, making for a potentially chewy meal when it's all done. While some salt and pepper can be added after the venison has been cooked, you should try and avoid adding any salt before putting it on the grill or in the pan.

No Need For Deli-Thin Slices, Leave The Cut Thick & Trim The Fat

Finally, I think the biggest issue people have when preparing venison is that they want to trim the cut down in thickness. PUT THE KNIFE DOWN. Venison cooks faster than beef does.

Again, the venison you have is pretty lean, getting rid of the 'extra' meat is only going to dry that meat out when it's being cooked, and by making the cut thinner, you are again at risk for serving your family/friends something that has the consistency more of jerky than of steak.

Get our free mobile app

As far as the fat goes, go ahead and cut the extra fat off, as it doesn't cook down nicely and isn't delicious. Many people actually complain if there is too much fat in/on their venison, as it leads to a 'gamey' taste.

There are a few more venison cooking tips that I found through the Legendary Whitetails website, and you can see those here.